We welcome the cold and greet these holiday-rich days with Quakerbridge Barley Wine. An incarnation of a Half Acre favorite, Marty Stouffer’s Wild America Barley Wine, this weighty beer is a choose-your-own-adventure experience. Freshly plugged, this beer is a hop guster to bring your holiday retreat to its knees, but time allows this brew to round and settle into an ever maltier bomb of balance. Whether your mug is beside a Thanksgiving gobbler or a holiday ham, let our bottled elixir join you and your family on its collision course of celebration. So, pull a cork and belly up to home – this hulk of a holiday hazer will settle any family retreat into a warming submission hold of mirth.

Poured from a 22oz bomber into two pint glasses. Thanks to HeatherAnn for the assist!

A: Pours a rich, deep golden hue. A slightly off white level of foam camps out on top for quite a while, leaving a sticky & lacey mess all down the inside of the glasses. Clarity is on the clean side while carbonation was a bit lazy.

S: Big bright aromas of juicy tropical hops that blend very nicely with the assertive yet tame backbone of malt.

T: Continuing with the groundwork laid down by the smell, the taste is all big tropical hops and subdued malt. Didn't notice any intrusion of alcohol flavors.

M: Bitterness due to the hops, not the prodigious alcohol content. Mildly slick sweetness is kept in check by the astringent hoppiness. Long lasting oily hop finish.

O: This was a killer Barleywine. Seems more "American" in nature than Marty Stouffers. Excellent.

Edit 12/16/12:

I've had the chance to try this from the bottle on release day, a 5oz pour at the Half Acre Tap Room, and an oz or two at the HA store. The draft versions and the fresh bottle all had big tropical fruit aromas and flavors. I had another bottle that sat in my beer fridge for about 3 weeks since release day. I popped that one the other night and was suprised by how the hops had faded. They are most certainly still there but the malt has kicked them to the curb, so to speak. This is a slightly different animal now.... (1,399 characters)

S - Caramel malts, burnt sugars, big mix of citrus and piney hops, perhaps a hint of alcohol. Very good balance of malt and hops and a good example of this style.

T - The taste is similarly a solid mix of toffee and caramel sweetness, zesty citrus and earthy hops, and mild bitterness in the finish. Alcohol is better-hidden and again this displays good balance.

M - Smooth, medium body, a bit toasty in texture, with some residual hop oils and resins that linger. Chewy, with a bit of warming alcohol, particularly as it warms.

D - Other than a slight booziness, this is a very good American barleywine. I enjoyed this quite a bit more than Marty Stouffer and may need to pick up another bottle to try a few months down the road. I liked this almost as much as Santa Vs. Unicorn. (964 characters)

T- Interesting blend of a classic alcoholic barely wine flavor with hoppy dry pine aspects. The hops make it very drinkable but not savory. Not a sweet barley wine.

F- crisp for a barley wine. Less heavy. Fairly dry.

O- A very hoppy barley wine. Definitely fun to drink, although not quite true to the style (not sure I mind). Doesn't have that slow sipping quality that many barley wines have. All in all, drinks like a double IPA, yet maintains those alcoholic winey aspects. Fun and confusing duality. (665 characters)

(Served in a snifter)A- This beer pours a slightly dense clear garnet body with a sticky beige head of creamy that leaves spots of foam on the glass with each sip. There is a slow carbonation working its way to the surface.

S- The full green hops aroma has some woody and slightly mint hints to it.

T- The bright but dank green hops have a cream flavor to follow and a lemon tartness to the hops that grow in the finish. There is some pale malt that is slightly dry in the finish that blend into some more bright hops that linger. There is some caramel malt sweetness that grows in the background as the beer opens.

M- The medium-light mouthfeel has a creamy texture in the finish and no alcohol heat noticed.

O- This beer has a light body and big bright hops that were very fresh and a nice malt support that grew as it opened. I wouldn’t describe this as a barleywine as it doesn’t really have the luscious malt that I enjoy, but this beer was delicious whatever label you want to stamp on it. (1,007 characters)

Bright and saturated reddish amber orange. Sturdy cap of off white foam leaves behind a few irregular arcs of lacing. Retention is good, head lasts for awhile initially. Later the foam recedes to a veil that eventually parts across the surface.

Big cantaloupe and melon at first, becoming sweet, later woody and spicy like sandalwood. Alcohol is well hidden in the aroma.

Earthy and sweet, dry and bitter, alternating modes equally large in the hop & malt departments. A bit bitter and biting with the higher abv, earthy and vegetal middle, a flash of light fruity sultana sweetness at the very beginning. Hops and booze really dry it out in the bitter chalky finish, oily and resiny in the middle. Overall a good one to share while fresh to pick up on the fresh hop aromas and flavor, but will likely age nicely. (817 characters)

Overall: Super solid "Behemoth" wannabe of an American Barleywine that is about on par in quality with New Glarus' Barleywine (when fresh) from last year. This is an excellent effort from Half Acre, but I still prefer both Double Crooked Tree and Behemoth.

Recommendation: Fans of hoppy, IPA-esque barleywines should give this one a whirl.

A: Pours a dark ruby color with a yellowish head forming on the pour. It recedes to a thick ring that leaves some splotchy lace down the glass.

S: Piney and grapefruity on the nose at first whiff. There is a sweet underlying malt body that really gives it a nice transition from the hops. A little caramel. Some earthiness as well. Perhaps a touch of onion.

T: More malty than the nose suggest. Slight roasted notes, but mainly some sweet caramel and a little burnt sugar bitterness. Some grassy hops, pine and some mild grapefruit as well. A little boozy sweetness on the finish.

M: Medium bodied with a medium carbonation. Even though it's a little boozy on the finish it doesn't detract from the overall drinkability of this beer. Drinks very well for a 10% barleywine - esque beer.

O: I think this isn't quite an American Barleywine, more of a malt DIPA a la Devil Dancer. This however drinks much better than Devil Dancer and has much more nuanced flavors. The hops compliment the sweet malts well and I'd like to see what some age would do to this beer. (1,107 characters)

Pours a dark amber with copper highlights capped with a one and a half finger off-white head. Average retention, little to no lacing. Caramel and toffee on the nose, pineapple, tropical fruit, and piney undertones. Opens with pineapple, hints of mango, joined by caramel malt, appleskin, and biting grapefruit rind bitterness. Spicy alcohol throughout. Full body, moderate to low carbonation. Smooth and lightly syrupy. A very solid American barleywine that was a joy to drink on this late December evening. (620 characters)

A generally well-balanced American barleywine, Quakerbridge features strong grapefruit and pine hop influences alongside rich malt flavors. While the ensemble is certainly not disappointing, I didn't think the beer was anything that warranted being revisited.

Pours a 1cm tall head of beige foam, made up of small and medium-sized bubbles. Retention is somewhat above average, the head lasting for slightly over one minute as it descends to a thick ring around the glass with a small island of foam atop the body. Lacing is present, but not particularly noteworthy, a few dots and lines scattered haphazardly across the inside of the glass. The body is a dark copper brown color, with light bringing out caramel color tones to the beer. Carbonation is visble, though fairly sparse and non-aggressive.

Aroma of fairly strong hops, grapefruit with pine, probably Cascade and others, with an equally noticeable background of caramel malt.

Front of palate finds rich caramel malts with subdued hop influence, which brings grapefruit and vague citrus flavors. Mid palate is of rich, sweet caramel malt with strong jolts of grapefruit and pine from the hops. Back of palate features rich caramel malts, citrus, grapefruit, and pine hops with mild ethanol. Aftertaste of rich caramel malt, with strong lingering bitterness and hints of ethanol.

Beer is medium-heavy to heavy in weight, with carbonation of medium intensity. This results in slightly foamy, but primarily smooth and liquid mouthfeel. Closes fairly dry, with little residual stickines across the palate. Ethanol heat on the back of the throat and nostrils, increasingly obvious as the temperature of the beer increases. (1,776 characters)

Bottle from late 2012. Bottlecap seal ragged, deteriorated. Would not age this any longer. Appearance is ruby red, cloudy with a small khaki head. Looks nice. Aroma is lush when cold: malty sweetness and hops, reminscent of a mandarin orange. When warm, there is a plasticy odor. Taste alternates between malty (front) and hoppy (sides, finish). Some nutty notes in the background. Again, when warm there is a plasticy taste, perhaps from bottlecap? Mouthfeel is medium, a bit creamy. Notwithstanding the off flavor, it's a tasty complex beer. (543 characters)

Appearance - The beer poured a light copper color with a modest head crowning the glass.

Smell - The beer smells like a new leather jacket. One way or the other, the smell does not affect my desire to drink this beer.

Taste - My first thought was how bubbly this barleywine is. There is some sweetness and mild hops before a dry aftertaste. For an American barelywine, the hops were hidden. There also was not any distinct measure of sweetness.

Mouthfeel - The beer coats the tongue with the vigor of a barleywine. This allows the dry aftertaste to linger nicely.

Overall - This was not a bad example of the style, but very little about it caught my attention. (664 characters)

A: Traditional amber colorS: MutedT: Slightly boozy with offsetting bitterness. M: Not as full as I like to see in a barley wine,. Light carbonation.0: What I would expect from Half Acre, with great hop taste and smell. Not the best example of the style, but a great barely wine for a hop-head. (298 characters)

I really need to stop drinking American barley wines between 6-12 months old. It's old enough that the hops aren't as dominant as they would have been fresh but too young to have developed the deep, rich malts that this is capable of. Still an enjoyable beer and I had no issues finishing a bomber on my own. But I can't shake the feeling that this would have been much better 4+ months ago or 6+ months from now. (1,101 characters)

Really like Half Acre, but this beer was just ok. kind of boring actually. Very thin body for a barley wine. Also, very hoppy. Reminded me more of an IPA than a barely wine. Some minor touches of fruit. Most of the flavor though, came from the big floral notes. (261 characters)

Gotta love the surprise bottle finds sometimes, right? This one pours a clear garnet-ruby topped by a finger of glowing off-white foam. The nose comprises grapefruit zest (both yellow and ruby red), light leek, and caramel. I'm assuming there's some Citra in this, based on that bit of leek. The taste holds notes of caramel, straight ruby red grapefruit rind, light leek, and a very light twinge of vinyl. The body is a straight medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, an alright barleywine, but one that left VDubb and myself somewhat wanting. For me, the leek and vinyl aspects detract significantly from what would, I believe, have been a merely pretty good b-wine. (724 characters)

(S)- An underlying rich caramel and honey sweetness meets some resin forward; almost sweaty sock funk with what remains of the hop citrus.

(T)- The hop characters are bit strange in the stage this beer is in, but some good underlying candied fig and honey-like sweetness elements.

(M)- It has a good carbonation level. The balance is fine, but I think the hops are at a strange stage right now with this beer.

(O)- Not bad, but could do with more time to let the strange hop notes to settle down. I remember liking this back when I had it much fresher, so altering my scores to account for that. (724 characters)